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What a 609 Dispute Letter Can and Cannot Do

A 609 dispute letter can open the door for you to dispute the credit bureaus but it's not a silver bullet to remove accurate accounts.

A 609 Letter can be a useful tool for consumers who are looking to repair their credit. However, it is important to remember that it’s not a silver bullet to remove accurate, but negative, information from your credit reports.

What is a 609 Letter?

A 609 Letter is a credit repair strategy that some believe forces credit reporting agencies to remove unverifiable information from your credit report. The name comes from Section 609 of Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

How Section 609 of the FCRA Works

Section 609 of the FCRA gives consumers the right to request information contained in your credit file and the source of that information but not specifically to dispute that information and its sources. Your right to dispute information in your credit report is covered in sections 611 and 623 of the FCRA. So technically, there is no “609 Dispute Letter”.

Here is what Section 609 actually says:

  • Access to Information: It grants you the right to request and obtain all the information in your credit file from a credit bureau. This includes the sources of the information and who has accessed your report recently.

There is no deletion mandate implied in Section 609 of the FCRA. It does not give you the right to demand deletion of accurate negative information, even if it’s old or you dislike it.

What a 609 Letter Can Do

A 609 Letter can help consumers to have erroneous information removed from their credit reports. Once you obtain the information, you can dispute any errors under sections 611 and 623.


What a 609 Letter Cannot Do

A 609 Letter cannot force credit reporting agencies to remove accurate negative information from your credit report. FCRA Section 609 is not a legal loophole that consumers can use to remove accurate information from their credit reports. That’s because the FCRA doesn’t require credit bureaus to keep or provide signed contracts or proof of debts.

The credit bureaus can still verify the account as accurate, through the e-Oscar verification process, even if the specific documents you’re looking for aren’t produced. The FCRA entitles consumers to all of the information the credit bureaus have in their systems—not information they do not have in their systems.

Some consumers have experienced deletions of accurate negative accounts using the “609 Dispute Letter” only to witness the negative accounts re-entered on their credit reports at a later date. That’s why it’s so important to base credit disputes on factual information.

Tips for Using a 609 Letter

  • Make sure you are actually disputing inaccurate or incomplete information.
  • State that you are requesting a copy of your credit report under Section 609 of the FCRA.
  • Provide a copy of your credit report with specific items circled or highlighted.
  • Request for removal of unverifiable negative information.
  • Send the letter via certified mail so you receive a receipt upon delivery.
  • Follow up with the credit reporting agency if you do not receive a response within 30 days.

Alternatives to Using a 609 Letter

There are a number of alternatives to using a 609 Letter. If you need assistance with a credit dispute, allow a professional credit repair company to help. They have teams of consultants that could help challenge errors on your credit reports.

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